Multiple Sclerosis cases in Australia have risen by 30 per cent over a four year period.

The latest data shows that 33,335 Australians were living with MS in 2021, an increase of 30 per cent over the four years since the previous update in 2017 (25,607 cases).

The figures were published in an interim report prepared by the Menzies Institute for Medical Research at the University of Tasmania.

One of the authors, Professor Bruce Taylor, says that while the rise in prevalence is a concern, the results were not unexpected.

"Increasing MS numbers are not what any of us want to see, however, the data is consistent with what we have been witnessing both domestically and internationally.

"Many lifestyle and behavioural risk factors contribute to a person developing MS, including obesity and insufficient sunlight exposure."

World MS Day, on May 30, puts the spotlight on the disease to increase awareness and funding for research into treatments and possibly a cure.

Monash University department of neuroscience head Helmut Butzkueven said that MS care had advanced enormously in the past decade, but there was a need for treatments for progressive MS.

"We need to unlock the huge basic research efforts in the last 10 years and turn them into new treatment trials to stop and reverse MS disability," Prof Butzkueven said on Tuesday.

"We need to create the right infrastructure so all people with MS who can and want to work together on this challenge are enabled and free to do so, no matter where in Australia they live."

Alfred Health neurologist Mastura Monif said the condition was challenging for the many Australians with MS.

"Some days can be harder than others for those affected by this condition," Prof Montif said.

"For us clinicians, it's important to provide comprehensive and holistic care, and to remember that MS impacts can be wide-reaching for the individual, their caregivers and the whole community."